Dendo 93 Posted October 14, 2010 Please please do not waste your money on a plating kit. You will not achieve what you are trying to. You really need to find a electroplating company. In the UK i would expect you to pay around £30 for a average deposit of gold ie. 5 microns. With a plating kit you would not achieve any thing like this thickness of gold and very little adhesion. My estimation on price may be a little out due to gold prices going up since i last did any gold plating but i expect it to be around this figure. Hope this of help. >Warbreck What is the maximum thickness you can plate? Skathewatch was talking about 100microns using electroplating technology for printed circuit boards. That is a flat board though and a watch might be a very different prospect. How even is the coverage? I guess you could restrict the plating in areas that you would not want so much gold thickness - holes for the stem and where the pins and strap go. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
warbreck 0 Posted October 15, 2010 There is no limit in reality. I have plated some very large rollers in silver up 2500 microns. Electroplating printed circuit boards is different than gold plating. This uses a high speed/build up acid copper. Coverage is quite uneven you have high and low areas of current density. The more complex a shape the greater the difference in thickness of plate. There are nickel coatings applied in a electroless process ie. chemical deposition which give a perfectly even coating. Hope this helps Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Pentax 0 Posted October 15, 2010 There is no limit in reality. I have plated some very large rollers in silver up 2500 microns. Electroplating printed circuit boards is different than gold plating. This uses a high speed/build up acid copper. Coverage is quite uneven you have high and low areas of current density. The more complex a shape the greater the difference in thickness of plate. There are nickel coatings applied in a electroless process ie. chemical deposition which give a perfectly even coating. Hope this helps Warbrek so that means that if we had a rep that has sheded 1mm of the casing and plate it with ably 1000 microns It means that the watch would not be jealous of a solid gold watch that is what I would call a gold wrapp What would 1000microns cost if applying to a watch case? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dendo 93 Posted October 15, 2010 There is no limit in reality. I have plated some very large rollers in silver up 2500 microns. Electroplating printed circuit boards is different than gold plating. This uses a high speed/build up acid copper. Coverage is quite uneven you have high and low areas of current density. The more complex a shape the greater the difference in thickness of plate. There are nickel coatings applied in a electroless process ie. chemical deposition which give a perfectly even coating. Hope this helps Very helpful. Thanks. Another question that relates to Pentax's quest for the ultimate gold replica watch that does not break the bank and is so like the solid gold watch it hardly matters..... What in microns is the minimal thickness that will give it the same appearance as a solid gold watch? And a related question from me - are gold watches cast or milled? I am guessing cast and milled. Is there a difference in appearance (due to say crystal structure) between solid and plated? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Pentax 0 Posted October 16, 2010 There is no limit in reality. I have plated some very large rollers in silver up 2500 microns. Electroplating printed circuit boards is different than gold plating. This uses a high speed/build up acid copper. Coverage is quite uneven you have high and low areas of current density. The more complex a shape the greater the difference in thickness of plate. There are nickel coatings applied in a electroless process ie. chemical deposition which give a perfectly even coating. Hope this helps Very helpful. Thanks. Another question that relates to Pentax's quest for the ultimate gold replica watch that does not break the bank and is so like the solid gold watch it hardly matters..... What in microns is the minimal thickness that will give it the same appearance as a solid gold watch? And a related question from me - are gold watches cast or milled? I am guessing cast and milled. Is there a difference in appearance (due to say crystal structure) between solid and plated? Dendo I think that they are Milled gathering my experience speaking with some jewellers in Hong Kong they mill the casing from solid gold to make the solid gold reps. My idea is since gold is so expensive they could Mille out a casing 1mm smaller in dimension then gold plate it with about 1200micron then polish the excessive mass off to gain an even casing. I think this watch can be considered solid gold because it can be re polished after many years and the price factor would be very affordable What do the old school members think about this? Is it feasible ? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
edil 28 Posted October 31, 2010 I found this website that is specialized in goldplating. Its in the USA, the prizes are not all that much expensive. Maybe someone will enjoy it, and have use of it. http://www.artisanplating.com/index.html Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
